engleski

Business Ethics in the Republic of Croatia – Results of a Study

Purpose of the study: a) to examine the factors influencing the behaviour and actions of per-sons who have the authority and duty or responsibility to contribute to the general welfare and the common good ; and, b) to examine the factors preventing or impeding ethical behaviour in the Republic of Croatia. The starting hypotheses are as follows: Hypoth. 1.) Business ethics is an important factor affecting individual business behaviour in the Republic of Croatia ; Hypoth. 2.) Employee education in the -field of business ethics is given suffi¬cient attention ; Hypoth. 3.) Business decisions are made in line with ethical principles ; Hypoth. 4.) Power as an ethical principle renders it possible to make business decisions that can contribute to the general welfare and the common good. These assumptions were arrived at based on theoretical knowledge which is believed to be as yet unconfirmed in our practice. Having processed and analysed the data received from the questionnaire, we may now see whether the hypotheses put forward were confirmed or not. Hypoth. 1.) Business ethics is an important factor affecting individual business behaviour in the Republic of Croatia, is accepted in the part relating to un¬derstanding the importance of ethics and business ethics, because a high number of respondents are familiar with the concepts of ethics and business ethics (98.80% and 94.62% respectively). Considering that ethics is not insti¬tutionalised in many organisations, we cannot confirm that ethics is an im¬portant factor influencing individual business behaviour. Hypoth. 2.) Employee education in the field of business ethics is given suffi¬cient attention, is not accepted because 76.74% of respondents did not com¬plete any ethics education programme, and furthermore, a high number of respondents, 93.05%, think that politicians, managers and other persons who make important business decisions, should receive in-service training and be trained in ethics. However, importantly, 75.23% of respondents learned about the importance of ethics in business and private life by reading professional books and articles, which indicates that the respondents are inclined toward self-education in the absence of organised programmes. Hypoth. 3.) Business decisions are made in line with ethical principles, is par¬tially accepted. Out of the total number of respondents, 39.88% answered that they had made important or strategic decisions. A significant number of re¬spondents (50.15%) makes important life and business decisions by thinking twice about the advantages, disadvantages and implications of such deci¬sions, and 41.69% said they consulted colleagues at work, friends or experts, so we may conclude that the respondents make business decisions system¬atically, i. e. in a deliberate way. Also, we may say that an important number of respondents acted ethically when they were making decision, i. e. 45.62% of respondents had in mind the good of the highest number of people, 32.93% maximum profit while respecting the ethical principle, and 26.89% of respon¬dents took also into account social responsibility when they were making de¬cision. However, a significant number of respondents (35.34%) said they im¬plemented a decision they knew was not in line with moral principles. In general, such decisions were unjust, unfair, did not result in the good of the highest number of people, satisfied individuals' interests at or without the detriment to others. The factors making it difficult for respondents to make ethical decisions are also significant and they include conditions that cannot be changed, owner of the company, the superiour officer or other. When asked about the feeling associated with decisions made, a significant number of re¬spondents said they were not proud (30.81%) or felt uneasy (57.71%) when they thought about important business decisions they had made. Although these data are optimistic, they indicate a need to promote and enhance the level of ethics in business environment. Hypoth. 4.) Power as an ethical principle renders it possible to make business decisions that can contribute to the general welfare and the common good, is accepted partially because 75.83% of respondents think that for them power meant ability to make decisions that would contribute to the general welfare and the common good. However, if assessing whether knowledge and expe¬rience, or expertise and dedication to work, are the source of individuals' or group's power, the conclusion is that a high number of respondents do not think so or did not notice it to be so. The most frequent form of behaviour in organisations is communication restricted to formal hierarchy and control, and individual initiative, while rewarding, conflict tolerance in the sense that employees are allowed to show their disagreement and criticism, and risk tolerance in the sense that employees are allowed to be sharp, innovative and risk oriented, are less recogniseable forms of behaviour in our business envi¬ronment. A significant indicator is that the superiours influence the behaviour of the subordinates in the majority of cases based on legal authority and know¬ledge and expertise, and less by the reward, motivational or some other met¬hod. Also, if the data concerning employee behaviour are analysed, we can see that employees at their place of work more often behave according to the principle of duty and obligation, and less according to the principle of good, bad, proper and fah, improper and unfair. Furthermore, in conclusion, we can say that the respondents themselves believe that employee behaviour ac-cording to the critérium "just" was desireable but nevertheless that it was still not on a satisfactory level in our business environment.

business ethics; responsibility; power

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